Although the term terroir gets tossed around like confetti at an Italian wedding these days, there are several (mostly family-owned and –operated) wine properties in Napa and Sonoma that are taking the idea seriously.

One such property is Benziger, who biodynamically farm grapes and make wine in a beautiful section of Sonoma County. So much so that they’ve hired self-proclaimed terroir specialist Dr. Pedro Parra to help them analyze the soils and subsoils of their vineyard locations – involving scientific analysis and the digging of deep trenches at strategic locations in the vineyards to examine the soil profiles and root growth. You can see some of this in the video coverage below.

General Manager Mike Benziger and I sat down last week at the family winery to talk about California wine, terroir, dirt, and Dr. Parra’s unique work, but failed to discuss the strange state of my wind-blown hair. Enjoy!

I had a hankerin’ for a giveaway, and for something fun and off-beat (I know, right? me being offbeat? what-what-WHAT?!??) and so for this edition of giveaway action we’re doubling up on the prizes and YOU can win just by leaving a comment!

I was recently (that’s “recently” as in my version of “recently” – which is measured in months – and not recently in normal human terms) turned onto a band called side FX, who feature the interesting vocals of wine fan Kim Cameron, and who (according to their publicist) have built their career by performing at wine tasting events.

Fans of well-crafted, pop-infused hooks and musicianship will dig Turning Point, I think – the more astute listeners will pick out a variety of influences from `80s Go-Go’s pop to country and UK club dance beats.

Anyway, today we’re giving away a copy of Turning Pointand throwing in a copy of my band’s pop-influenced album Cloud & Water. Here’s how it works:

YOU leave a comment describing the worst band that you ever saw live while you were drinking (because if a band stinks when you’re buzzing, then they probably really suck). In one week, using a super-secret random process, I will select one commenter as the WINNER.

My personal selection of the worst band that I ever saw while drinking (that’s while I was drinking, though I’ve no proof that the band in question wasn’t drinking) is going to surprise you…

George Koutsoyannopoulos has a round, friendly face that belies the seriousness of what he is telling me, one arm on the steering wheel of his “Volcan Wines mobile,” the other gesturing over me towards the passenger side window as we ride up the twisting, winding passage towards one of Santorin’s higher points. We’re on our way to lunch at the local taverna; a Greek lunch, mind you – the kind that is of Homeric epic proportions even by European standards. It’s the kind of lunch that will last hours and showcase the best local cuisine that the island has to offer, the kind of lunch where you might just forget how to walk by the time it finally concludes.

Typical day at the office, right?

From the vantage point of the front passenger-side window, I don’t see vineyards in the valley below as it stretches out to the rocky beach and then the Aegean; I see an airport.

“Building in Santorini has reduced due to the recent economy,” George says, “from the `80s to 2000 was the biggest expansion. But the airport had the biggest impact on the vineyards.”

George is a brave man. I know this not because he is driving recklessly – he isn’t (in fact, his driving, like the pace of just about everything else on this gorgeous volcanic oasis, can best be described as “laid back”). I know it because he is one of the driving forces behind the island’s Wine Museum, which chronicles the history of Santorini’s viticulture from 1660 through the 1970s. For one thing, the museum, while an informative treasure trove of the unique and ancient story of viticulture on Santorini, is underground and populated with some of the eeriest animatronic humanoid automatons I’ve ever seen – there is no way I could walk through it at night without totally losing it in an apoplectic, fetal-positioned mess of abject fear.

More importantly, George’s investment in the museum is a brave gamble, part of a battle being fought to protect the island’s vineyards – and the history of Santorini’s wine culture, itself a miracle of human ingenuity vs. the forces of nature – from extinction.

The greatest threat to the way of the wine on this most-beautiful of all of Greece’s Aegeanic treasures?

The Fine Print

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